BMW plans no more joint projects with PSA

BMW, the world's largest premium auto company, is not thinking about extending joint projects with French mass carmaker PSA Peugeot Citroen beyond its current four cylinder engine partnership.

"A further cooperation in the area of other components, let alone platforms, is not planned," BMW's head of research and development, Klaus Draeger, told Germany's auto motor und sport enthusiast magazine in an interview published on Thursday.

Between them, BMW and PSA have built a total of 1.3 million motors since 2006, when they agreed to manufacture a family of 1.6 litre turbocharged petrol engines that were used in Mini, Peugeot and Citroen cars.

In early February, the two carmakers extended their engine cooperation, agreeing to jointly develop a next generation of four-cylinder petrol engines that meet the upcoming Euro 6 emission requirements.

BMW's chief executive, Norbert Reithofer, had said at the time that the two companies would "look into options for further collaboration", citing the possibility of joint development, production and procurement at a systems and component level.

A spokesman for BMW said the quote in auto motor und sport was "misleading", saying that nothing has changed since early February.

Draeger also said in the interview that Daimler's Mercedes-Benz unit and BMW continue to purchase a double-digit number of components jointly, but aimed to expand this by identifying further parts they could buy together to gain scale.